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Home , ArmadilloCon, City at the End of Time, Daniel Abraham (author), Daryl Gregory, Michael Bishop (author), Michael Swanwick

Te Shutle May 2009 The Next NASFA Meeting, on 16 May 2009, Is the More-Or-Less Annual Picnic/Cookout Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting Sunday 17 May 2009, 2P, Mike Kennedy’s House

be Sunday 17 May (the day after the Cookout/Picnic) at 2P at d Oyez, Oyez d Mike Kennedy’s house — 7907 Charlotte Drive SW in Hunts- ville. A full calendar of Concom Meetings for the year is in- COOKOUT/PICNIC cluded in the NASFA Calendar. The next NASFA Meeting, on Saturday 16 May 2009, is Please continue to keep in mind that Con†Stellation will be preempted by the More-Or-Less-Annual NASFA Cookout/ about a month earlier this year than in the recent past. Picnic to be held that day. It will be at Doug and Mary Lam- NASFA CALENDAR ONLINE pert’s house, starting at 2P and continuing until they kick us NASFA has an online calendar on Google. Interested parties out. See the map on this page to get you there. If you get lost on can check the calendar online, but you can also subscribe to the the day, try calling their home number (256-829-9195). calendar and have your Outlook, iCal, BlackBerry, or other Please bring your preferred drink plus food to share. There calendar automatically updated as events (Club Meetings, Con- Beverages will be a grill available for those who want to cook on the spot. W MEETING LOCATION Hardees indmill No, we’re not changing again. Well, except that we are hav- Monroe Road ing the Picnic/Cookout in lieu of a regular meeting this month. Memorial Parkway

As of April 2009 the regular meeting location was changed Beconsfield Drive to the Community Room at the Renasant Bank, 4245 Balmoral Drive in south Huntsville. Exit the Parkway at Airport Road; Meridianville head east one short block to Balmoral; turn left (north) for less Monroe Road is about 9 than a block. The bank is on the right, just past Logan’s Road- miles north on Memorial house restaurant. Piper Lane Parkway (US-231/431) from PROGRAM the intersection with I-565, then left about 1 mile to The program for May is preempted by the Cookout/Picnic. Beaconsfield Drive ! ATMMs 127 Autumn Glaze Drive The After-The-Meeting Meeting for May is also preempted by the Picnic/Cookout. We need ATMM volunteers for June Meridianville AL 35759 and forward. Map To CONCOM MEETINGS The May Concom Meeting for Con†Stellation XXVIII will Cookout/Picnic

Inside this issue… Locus Awards Finalists ...... 3 News and Info...... 2 Awards Roundup ...... 4 Minutes of the April Meeting...... 2 Travelogue: 9689 Miles to Louisville, Part 3 of 3 ...... 6 NASFA Calendar...... 3 Letter of Comment ...... 8

Deadline for the June issue of The N1ASFA Shuttle is Friday, 5 June 2009 com Meetings, local sf/f events) are added or changed. fans, your editor was bemused to find a National Public Radio Bill S. for details. story with some fans actually making such complaints. You can PED ON HIATUS; STEVE & SUE FINISH UP read a printed version or listen to the full audio of the NPR PieEyedDragon’s latest tale is on hiatus while the Shuttle story at . multi-family-visit, multi-multi-state cross-country trip to (among many other things) last year’s . The third and final installment of that article appears in this issue. Subject to exigent circumstances, PED’s tale will resume next month. April Minutes by Ali Scanland

NASFA meeting April 18th. News and Info Madam President Mary L. opened the meeting at 6.17.13P. As the crickets were presented they failed to sound. While DUFF DEADLINE IMMINENT many in the crowd made joyful noises thinking they had The deadline for voting for this year’s Down Under Fan sounded their last at the previous meeting, the president labored Fund is upon us — midnight 17 May 2009. DUFF sends an to revive them (shaking their box). To the dismay of many Australasian fan to North America or vice versa in alternate present she was able to wake them up, they promptly chan- years. (This year it’s the former — the winner to visit the Mont- neled their cicada cousins and started spazzing out. A digres- real Worldcon among other things.) sion on cricket mp3 files commenced. The current race is a four-way contest between Alison Bar- OLD BUSINESS ton, the duo of David Cake and Grant Watson, Emma Hawkes, Mike C. asked if we have thanked BookMark, pointing out and Chris Nelson-Lee. The North American administrators are that they have not received a thank you letter. This was on the Sue and Steve Francis so ballots should be mailed to them at secretary’s to do list from the last meeting, in his absence we P. O. Box 58009, Louisville KY 40268. Ballots must be signed were not able to confirm nor deny the thank you note. and accompanied by a donation of at least US$5 (though larger NEW BUSINESS donations would be gratefully accepted). Steve and Sue can It would seem that Randy C. with his connections in South- provide you with a ballot or you can email the Shuttle for one; just remember, time is ogy mailing list, and brought the pamphlet and informational short. CD that he received in the mail. STAR TREK EXPERIENCE TO REOPEN? Randy also received a hand written request for the addresses Word dribbled out earlier this year that an updated version of of local zines. The envelope included $2, for postage presuma- the ride/exhibit known as Star Trek: The Experience would be bly. reopening in Las Vegas, but not all at once and not at the origi- President Mary L turned to treasurer Sam S. and asked “do nal Vegas Hilton location. A plan had been announced to re- you have anything for us” to the groans of the crowd. Sam open the first increment (restaurant/tavern and gift shop) at the responded “surprisingly no spam today,” though we do have a downtown Vegas Neonopolis development in time for the pre- letter from “The Planet of Love” — they are putting together a mier of the new Trek movie in early May — followed by the compilation of music composed for or by fans themed on the rides and IMAX theater some time in 2010. planet of love and/or inspiriy, and are asking for original con- They whiffed. tributions. If interested please contact . plans change just days before the movie opening was probably A couple of Press Releases came announcing upcoming no great surprise. The newly announced plan is to have ST:TE novel releases. open some time in 2010, and all at once instead of phased. • Sam’s Dot Publishing — Ascendant Time will tell if they get this off the ground or not. • Antellus — Destiny’s Forge, To Taste the Dragons Blood, IN DOG (AND CAT) WE TRUST Nargasanti, Red Dragon, The Queen’s Marksman, The Celebrity news site posted a story that Majel Black Witch, and Virus Barrett-Roddenberry’s will in- Our programer Sue T. announced that next months program cluded a major trust for her pets. will be the picnic at Doug and Mary’s home on May 16th. More The $4 million is for upkeep of the information can be found at our website. dogs and cats, but also the house Publishing master Bill S. mentioned that he and Sam S. have they live in (reported by TMZ to be been discussing changing the hosting site for the website. Doug a multimillion-dollar mansion). L. moved quickly that the club to what ever Bill S. wants to do Domestic employee Reinelda Es- with the website. The discussion continued about which site, tupinian, who cared for the pets for Mike C. brought up a suggestion for Bill S. to look into. MBR, was also given a sizable Adam suggested we announce our meetings on noting that it is free and cool. Bill S. said he would look to live in that same house. Son into it. Eugene Roddenberry Jr. inherited another mansion plus $60 CONVENTION BUSINESS million now and additional $10 million payments at ages 35, A concom meeting is scheduled at Mike K.’s house the next 40, and 45. day. SOME PEOPLE ARE NEVER HAPPY After a short pause in true business Sam S. motioned to After watching a video at taking a adjourn at 6.34.13P. satirical look at how some Star Trek fans might complain that The program following was the shooting of the rocket in a the new movie was too entertaining and too accessible to non- suitcase, it was pretty cool. 2 , 6P. NASFA Calendar 03 Independence Day (Observed). 04 Independence Day. MAY 05 Tentative Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, 01 BD: Russell McNutt. Mike Kennedy’s house. 01 May Day (Traditional). 10–12 LibertyCon 22 — Chattanooga TN. 01–03 Costume Con 27 — Timonium MD. 10–12 Shore Leave 31 — Baltimore MD. 01–03 OutLantaCon — GA. 10–12 JAMPcon — Chattanooga TN. 01–03 Dicehead Siege — Chattanooga TN. 10–12 Creation Twi/Tour — Atlanta GA. 03 BD: Martha Knowles. 17–19 BabelCon — Baton Rouge LA. 04 May Day (Observed, UK, et al.). 18* NASFA Meeting — 6P Business, 7P Program, at Re- 04 Day (May the Fourth Be With You). nasant Bank. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 05 Cinco de Mayo. 18 Comic Con — Murfreesboro TN. 07 Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: A Spell for 19 Tentative Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, Chameleon, Piers Anthony; 6P. Mike Kennedy’s house (meeting to be held only if needed). 10 Mother’s Day. 24 BD: Jay Johns. 14 BD: Debbie Hughes. 26 Parents’ Day. 14 BD: Nancy Whittle, née Evans. 29 BD: Mark Paulk. 14–17 Star Fleet Region 1 Summit — Pigeon Forge TN. AUGUST 15–17 Mobicon — Mobile AL. 02 Tentative Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, 16* NASFA Meeting — Picnic/Cookout at Mary and Doug Mike Kennedy’s house. Lampert’s house, 2P. This takes the place of the Busi- 06 Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: 1984, George ness Meeting, Program, and ATMM. Orwell, 6P. 16 BD: Linda Bolgeo. 06–09 Starfleet International — Greensboro NC. 16 Armed Forces Day. 08 BD: Jim Woosley. 17 Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, Mike 12 BD: Sue Thorn. Kennedy’s house. NOTE: Moved to this date to avoid 13–16 Game Fest South — Chattanooga TN. conflict with Mother’s Day. 14 BD: Edward Kenny. 19 BD: David O. Miller. 15* NASFA Meeting — 6P Business, 7P Program, at Re- 20 BD: Mike Glicksohn. nasant Bank. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 22–24 Rocket City FurMeet 7 — Huntsville AL. 16 Tentative Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, 22–24 TimeGate — Atlanta GA. Mike Kennedy’s house. 22–24 Oasis 22 — Orlando FL. 19 BD: Khen Moore. 22–25 Play On Con — Birmingham AL. 21 BD: Deborah Denton. 22–25 Balticon 43 — Baltimore MD. 22 First day of Ramadan. 25 Memorial Day. 27–29 Animation Attack! — Atlanta GA. 25 BD: Gail Murphree. FUTURE CONCOM MEETINGS 27 BD: Kathy Paulk. 06 September 29–31 ConCarolinas — Charlotte NC. 17 September (Thursday, at con hotel) JUNE OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO 02 BD: Lloyd Penney. The North Alabama Association meets on the 04 Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: The Man in the third Saturday of each month. (Unless there is a large nearby High Castle, Philip K. Dick, 6P. convention being held that weekend — in which case we often 05–07 DeepSouthCon 47/Hypericon 5 — Nashville TN. move the meeting to the second or fourth weekend.) As of 05–07 WarFair — Chattanooga TN. April 2009, the regular meeting location was changed to the 07 Atlanta Comic Convention — Atlanta GA. Community Room at the Balmoral branch of Renasant Bank 11–14 2009 Science Fiction Research Association Conference (off Airport Road, near the Parkway). The Executive Commit- — Atlanta GA. tee meeting (if scheduled) is at 5P. The business meeting is at 12–14 Sci Fi Summer Con — Atlanta GA. 6P. The program is at 7P. Anyone is welcome to attend any of 13 BD: Bill S. the meetings. There is usually an after-the-meeting meeting 14 Tentative Con†Stellation XXVIII Concom Meeting, 2P, with directions available at the program. Mike Kennedy’s house. 14 Flag Day. 17 BD: Jeff Freeman. 20* NASFA Meeting — 6P Business, 7P Program, at Re- Finalists nasant Bank. Program: TBD. ATMM: TBD. 21 Father’s Day. The Locus Awards (popular awards based on a web survey 21 Summer Solstice (20 June in Mountain Time Zone and by Locus Magazine) have announced their 2009 “finalists” (for westward). work during 2008). Actually, the winners have already been 21 BD: PieEyedDragon. determined and will be announced in Seattle WA during the 28 Atlanta Anime Day — Atlanta GA. Science Fiction Awards Weekend, 26–27 June 2009. The list in JULY each category comprises the top five vote recipients in the on- 01 Canada Day. line poll. 02 BD: Deb Stone. SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL 02 Bailey Cove Library Book Discussion: Anubis Gates, Matter, Iain M. Banks ( UK) 3 City at the End of Time, (Gollancz, Del Rey) Eclipse Two, Jonathan Strahan, ed. () Marsbound, (Ace) The Starry Rift, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Viking) , (Atlantic UK, Morrow) COLLECTION Saturn’s Children, (Orbit, Ace) Pump Six and Other Stories, Paolo Bacigalupi (Night Shade NOVEL Books) The Shadow Year, (Morrow) The Drowned Life, Jeffrey Ford (HarperPerennial) Lavinia, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt) Pretty Monsters, Kelly Link (Viking) The Bell at Sealey Head, Patricia A. McKillip (Ace) The Best of , Lucius Shepard (Subterranean , (Tor) Press) An Evil Guest, (Tor) The Best of Michael Swanwick, Michael Swanwick (Subterra- FIRST NOVEL nean Press) Thunderer, Felix Gilman (Bantam Spectra) EDITOR Black Ships, Jo Graham (Orbit US) Pandemonium, (Ballantine Del Rey) The Gone-Away World, Nick Harkaway (William Heinemann, David G. Hartwell Knopf) Jonathan Strahan Singularity’s Ring, Paul Melko (Tor) Gordon Van Gelder YOUNG-ADULT NOVEL ARTIST Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (Tor) Bob Eggleton , (HarperCollins, Blooms- bury) Shaun Tan Tender Morsels, (Knopf) Nation, Terry Pratchett (Doubleday UK, HarperCollins) Michael Whelan Zoe’s Tale, (Tor) NON-FICTION/ART BOOK Spectrum 15: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, Cathy ”The Erdmann Nexus,” (Asimov’s, October–No- Fenner and Arnie Fenner, eds. (Underwood Books) vember 2008) What It Is We Do When We Read Science Fiction, Paul Kincaid “Pretty Monsters,” Kelly Link (Pretty Monsters) (Beccon) “The Tear,” Ian McDonald (Galactic Empires) Rhetorics of Fantasy, Farah Mendlesohn (Wesleyan University Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman (Knopf) Press) “True Names,” Benjamin Rosenbaum and Cory Doctorow P. Craig Russell, : The Graphic Novel, Neil Gaiman, (Fast Forward 2) adapted and illustrated by P. Craig Russell (HarperCollins) NOVELETTE Shaun Tan, Tales From Outer Suburbia (Allen & Unwin; “Pump Six,” Paolo Bacigalupi (Pump Six and Other Stories) Scholastic 2009) “The Ice War,” Stephen Baxter (Asimov’s, September 2008) “,” Elizabeth Bear (Asimov’s, 2008) “The Things that Make Me Weak and Strange Get Engineered Away,” Cory Doctorow (, August 2008) Awards Roundup “Pride and Prometheus,” (F&SF, January 2008) SHORT STORY NEBULA AWARDS “King Pelles the Sure,” Peter S. Beagle (Strange Roads) The Nebula Awards (and other related awards) are presented “Boojum,” Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette (Fast Ships, Black by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and are perhaps the premier peer genre awards, at “,” Ted Chiang (Eclipse Two) least for English-language sf/f. “The Kindness of Strangers,” Nancy Kress (Fast Forward 2) Eligibility is based on publication “After the Coup,” John Scalzi (, July 2008) in the USA only, but the author can MAGAZINE be of any nationality. In addition to Analog the Nebulas and the Andre Norton Asimov’s Award (technically not a Nebula), F&SF SFWA had already announced Realms of Fantasy winners of the Subterranean Memorial Grand Master Award PUBLISHER (Harry Harrison), SFWA Author Ace Emerita (M. J. Engh), Bradbury Baen Award (Joss Whedon), SFWA Night Shade Books Service Award (Victoria Strauss), and Solstice Award (Kate Wilhelm, Tor Martin H. Greenberg, and A. J. ANTHOLOGY Budrys). The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 2008: 21st Annual Collec- Novel. Powers, Ursula K. Le Guin (Harcourt, September 2007) tion, Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant, eds. (St. Novella...... “The Spacetime Pool,” Catherine Asaro (Analog, Martin’s Griffin) March 2008) Galactic Empires, Gardner Dozois, ed. (SFBC) Novelette...... “Pride and Prometheus,” John Kessel (F&SF, The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fifth Annual Collec- January 2008) tion, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s) Short Story.... “Trophy Wives,” Nina Kiriki Hoffman (Fellow- 4 ship Fantastic, Greenberg and Novelette.... “The Ray-Gun: A Love Story,” James Alan Gard- Hughes, eds., DAW, January 2008) ner (February) Script..... WALL-E, Screenplay by Short Story...... “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon, (July) Original story by Andrew Stanton Poem..... “Deaths on Other Planets,” Joanne Merriam (April– and Pete Docter (Walt Disney, May) June 2008) Cover Artist (tie) ...... March 2008, Tomasz Maronski and Sep- (for Young tember 2008, John Picacio Adult fiction). Flora’s Dare: How SIDEWISE AWARDS NOMS a Girl of Spirit Gambles All to Nominees for the 2008 Sidewise Awards (adjudicated front a Bouncing Boy Terror, and awards for alternate his- Try to Save Califa from a Shaky tory) have been announced. Doom (Despite Being Confined The awards will be pre- to Her Room), Ysabeau S. Wilce sented at Anticipation, the (Harcourt, September 2008) Montreal Worldcon, to be CLARKE WINNER ANNOUNCED held 6–10 August 2009. The winner of the 2009 Arthur The judges are Stephen C. Clarke Award was announced Rittenhouse, Stuart Shiff- 29 April. The juried award is for man, Kurt Sidaway, and an sf novel (not fantasy or other Steven H. Silver. ) published in Sidewise Short Form Nominees the UK during the previous calen- Tobias Buckell, “The People’s Machine” (Sideways in Crime: dar year. The award (which in- An Alternate Mystery Anthology, , ed., BL/ cluded a prize of £2009) went to Solaris 2008) Ian R. MacLeod for Song of Albert E. Cowdrey, “Poison Victory” (F&SF, July 2008) Time (PS Publishing). Paul McAuley, “A Brief Guide to Other Histories” (Postscripts TIPTREE AWARD WINNERS #15, September 2008) The Tiptree Award is a juried award, spon- Denominator #3, Autumn 2008) sored by the James Tiptree, Jr. Lit- Mary Rosenblum, “Sacrifice” (Sideways in Crime: An Alter- erary Award Council, for a work of science fiction or fantasy nate Mystery Anthology, Lou Anders, ed., BL/Solaris “that expands or 2008) explores our Kristine Kathryn Rusch, “G-Men” (Sideways in Crime: An understanding of Alternate Mystery Anthology, Lou Anders, ed., BL/Solaris gender.” A list of 2008) other recom- Sidewise Long Form Nominees mended stories is George Mann, The Affinity Bridge, Snowbooks 2008 announced at the Terry Pratchett, Nation, HarperCollins/Doubleday UK 2008 same time as the , The Dragon’s Nine Sons, BL/Solaris 2008 winner (for this Adam Roberts, Swiftly, Gollancz 2008 year’s lengthy Jo Walton, Half a Crown, Tor 2008 Honor List see SEIUN NOMS the Tiptree web Nominees for the 2009 Seiun Awards have been announced. These Japanese fan-voted online). awards are for sf/f works in Japanese, but two categories are for For award year 2008 there were two winners, The Knife of works translated to that language (nominees listed below). The Never Letting Go (Patrick Ness, Walker, 2008) and Filter awards are presented at the Japanese National Convention, with House (, Aqueduct Press, 2008). the two translated-works categories often re-presented at ASIMOV’S AND ANALOG AWARDS Worldcon when that latter con takes place after Japan’s natcon. Analog Science Fiction and Fact and Asimov's Science Fic- Seiun Foreign Language Novel Noms tion announced their readers’ poll award winners. , Robert Charles Wilson Analog's Analytical Laboratory Awards The Ghost Brigades, John Scalzi Novella...... “Tenbrook of Mars,” Dean McLaughlin (Ju- Redemption Ark, Alastair Reynolds ly–August) Light, M. John Harrison Novelette...... “The Man in the Mirror,” Geoffrey A. Landis The Urth of the New Sun, Gene Wolfe (January–February) Sun of Suns, Karl Schroeder Short Story...... “Starship Down,” Tracy Canfield (October) Seeker, Jack McDevitt Fact Article.... “The World's Simplest Fusion Reactor,” Tom Seiun Foreign Language Short Story Noms Ligon (January–February) “The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate,” Ted Chiang Cover...... April 2008, Scott Grimando “The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics,” Asimov's Readers’ Awards Daniel Abraham Novella... “The Room of Lost Souls,” Kristine Kathryn Rusch “A Billion Eves,” Robert Reed (April–May) “All Seated on the Ground,” 5 “The Summer Isles,” Ian R MacLeod north through Idaho to the west entrance of Yellowstone Park. “Singing My Sister Down,” Margo Lanagan The little town of West Yellowstone was a typical tourist stop at SHIRLEY JACKSON NOMS the edge of the park. The buffalo burgers we had at rustic west- Nominees for the current Shirley Jackson Awards (for work ern restaurant were quite good and reasonably priced. They in 2008) have been announced. These juried awards are for works appearing for the first store on the main street that had a nice selection, but was a little time in English during that calendar year that contain elements pricey. The National Parks senior pass that we received at the of psychological suspense, horror, or dark fantasy. The awards Painted Desert in Arizona came in quite handy at the entrance will be presented at 20 , on to Yellowstone Park. The road we took was the one covering Sunday 12 July 2009. By category, the nominations are: the northwest side of the park. It, like all of the roads in the SJ Awards Novel Noms park, was very hilly and windy and had a 45-mile-per-hour Alive in Necropolis, Doug Dorst speed limit. Several cars we saw were going considerably The Man on the Ceiling, and faster than that, which is quite foolish given the roads. Pandemonium, Daryl Gregory After about 3 hours of some great park scenery, we exited the The Resurrectionist, Jack O’Connell north side of the park at Gardiner, Montana, and drove 60 miles The Shadow Year, Jeffrey Ford north of the park to our motel in Livingston, Montana. After Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan settling in we went next door to a restaurant for dinner and SJ Awards Novella Noms ordered our drinks. Immediately after the waitress brought our Disquiet, Julia Leigh drinks, we and everyone else in the restaurant were ushered out “Dormitory,” Yoko Ogawa to the parking lot. It seems that the staff discovered a gas leak Living With the Dead, Darrell Schweitzer in the kitchen and were being cautious about a possible explo- The Long Trial of Nolan Dugatti, Stephen Graham Jones sion. We waited about 15–20 minutes and decided to try “N,” somewhere else. We ended up at an Arby’s down the street. So SJ Awards Novelette Noms much for a good dinner that evening. “Hunger Moon,” Deborah Noyes The next day we returned to the park and headed south to- “The Lagerstatte,” Laird Barron ward Old Faithful. Along the way we found several interesting “Penguins of the Apocalypse,” William Browning Spencer sites, including some small geysers and a bubbling sulfur pit. “Pride and Prometheus,” John Kessel One area had wooden walkways (with the usual warnings not The Situation, Jeff Vandermeer to step off) that led to the bubbling pits and geysers. Judging SJ Awards Short Story Noms from the pictures in travel guides, one would not expect the “68° 07′ 15″ N, 31° 36′ 44″ W,” Conrad Williams amount of development around the area of Old Faithful. We “The Dinner Party,” Joshua Ferris found our way to a restaurant and had lunch before going to the “Evidence of Love in a Case of Abandonment: One Daughter’s viewing area. After about a 45-minute wait, and a bit of sun- Personal Account,” M. Rickert burn, Old Faithful did its stuff. I photographed the geyser in all “The Inner City,” Karen Heuler its glory with the movie setting on the digital camera. While we “Intertropical Convergence Zone,” Nadia Bulkin were in the park the odometer passed 5555.5 miles. We then “The Pile,” drove around the southwest side of the park before returning to SJ Awards Collection Noms Livingston and our lodgings. A Better Angel, Chris Adrian On our last day at Yellowstone, we drove through the center Dangerous Laughter, Steven Millhauser part of the park. As we progressed, we saw a large number of The Diving Pool, Yoko Ogawa cars pulled off to one side of the road with people staring up the The Girl on the Fridge, Etgar Keret side of the hill. Using binoculars, we saw several mountain Just After Sunset, Stephen King sheep way up in the rocks. As the sheep were the same color as Wild Nights!, Joyce Carol Oates the surrounding rocks, it was a little difficult to find them with SJ Awards Anthology Noms the zoom lens on the camera, but find them we did. We again Bound for Evil, Tom English, ed. returned to Livingston for the night so we could get an early Exotic Gothic 2: New Tales of Taboo, Danel Olson, ed. start the next morning. Fast Ships, Black Sails, Ann Vandermeer and Jeff Vandermeer, Our next travels took us through southern Montana toward eds. Billings. The last time I went to Billings was when my grand- The New Uncanny, Sarah Eyre and Ra Page, eds. mother took me on a bus trip from Oakland, California, to visit Shades of Darkness, Barbara Roden and Christopher Roden, my Aunt Lois and Uncle Al. That was 54 years ago. From there eds. we continued on to Rapid City, South Dakota, for a night’s rest before going to Mount Rushmore. As we went along our way, we encountered hundreds of people on all kinds of motorcycles heading toward Sturgis for the annual motorcycle rally held 9689 Miles to Louisville there each summer. The bikers we talked to were very nice Part 3 of 3 folks all heading to Sturgis for a week of beer drinking, hell by Steve and Sue Francis raising, and babe watching. Mount Rushmore was our next destination, the next morning [The Shuttle is pleased to continue the serialization of this while it was still relatively cool. This is another place that all travelogue by Steve and Sue Francis detailing their cross- Americans should visit at least once in their lifetimes. To put it country trip to — among many other things — Denvention 3, in a word, it is spectacular, to say the least. I got some very last year’s Worldcon. This was begun in the March and April postcard-like photographs of the concourse and the four statues issues and concludes this month. -ED] of the presidents. Most pictures of Mount Rush-more show it After checking out of our hotel the next morning we drove from a distance, however there is a footpath that passes just 6 below the rub- that the car would be in a secure garage while at the Hilton. ble cut from The Hilton cost a little bit more than the other hotels, but we the rocky face selected it to be with the Cincinnati Fantasy Group contingent. when the stat- Every year at the Worldcon, the CFG hosts a hospitality suite ues were for all friends and members of the group. This has always been carved. From a good place to go to unwind after a day at the convention. this vantage Tuesday morning we went out to the Denver Airport to pick point you can up Dick Spelman and Pat and Roger Sims who flew in from literally look Orlando. This was about a 70 mile round trip as the airport is right up George located more than 30 miles east of downtown. The big advan- Washington’s tage to staying in the Hilton Garden Inn was its proximity to nose (and the other three noses as well). There are warning the Colorado Convention Center. It took about two minutes to signs telling folks how strenuous the path is, and for people walk to the corner of the CCC and about ten more to get to the with walking problems to take their time. convention areas after entering the building. The giant Blue Upon leaving the park, we headed east toward the Badlands. Bear leaning against the 14th Street side of the glass wall This is some desolate country that makes the desert of northern pointed the way to Denvention 3. Nevada seem like lush parkland. After about an hour’s drive, At this point, we will only touch on the highlights of the we entered the Badlands from the east side on an unpaved convention as there have been many convention reports gener- gravel road. I was very leery of turning off the paved highway, ated since the close of the festivities. During the run of the con- but Sue insisted that this was the right way to go. I felt better vention Richard and Lois Wellinghurst helped us (mostly Sue) when we passed the park entrance guard shack, even though it run a DUFF promotional table in the fan activities area right was unattended. The barren landscape was quite impressive next to the Aussiecon table. As in past years, I worked part time and very hot. We left the park on the northwest side and went at the Site Selection table and was involved in the ballot back to Rapid City, again encountering many more motorcy- counting session. The three highest vote tallies went first to clists on the way. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, then Xerps, followed by Peggy Having left Rapid City before all of the motorcyclists arrived Rae’s house. A good deal of my time was taken up with the in the area, we headed south on old highway US-385 to Inter- DUFF (Down Under Fan Fund) auction arrangements and state 80. Upon entering Sidney, Nebraska, we passed 6666.6 talking to poten- miles. From there we went west through Cheyenne, Wyoming, tial DUFF candi- to I-25, then south through Denver to Colorado Springs. The dates for the race traffic between Denver and Colorado Springs was bumper to for 2010. We all bumper and took us 2 hours to go about 50 miles. We stayed know that we for three days at a Towne Place Suites on the south side of the have to get all of city. The hotel restaurant was decorated with photos and this stuff finished memorabilia of all kinds of aircraft. Part of the restaurant was before December set up in the fuselage of a 4-motor Air Force transport plane. 21st, 2012 or There were several tables in the cargo area and you were al- forget it. After the lowed to sit in the pilot’s seat in the cockpit (but not eat there). Site Selection The following day we drove to Canon City and took the train voting was com- through the Royal Gorge. The scenery was similar to what we pleted, Warren saw in the Katherine Gorge trip in Australia in 1999. We had a Buff of the Raleigh NC NASFiC bid took over the Australia very pleasant conversation with the couple that shared our ta- bid table and the Australians moved over to the former site ble. Our seats were in a vista dome car and lunch was provided selection tables for membership conversions. Several times as a part of the package. There is a high bridge over the gorge during the convention, we encountered Glenda Larke, an that is 1053 feet over the river. On the return trip we saw a large author who was a guest at Swancon in Perth, Western Australia. number of rafters on the water having the time of their lives. We met her while we were attending Swancon as the 2008 Manitou City was the starting point of our next excursion. DUFF representatives. We were very pleased to see her again After the obligatory visit to the gift shop, we boarded the Pikes in Denver. Peak Cog Railway for a very steep ride to the top of the moun- Having a car in Denver was very helpful to the Australian tain. Again the views were spectacular. We met another friendly party givers by providing them with transportation to the store couple on the Cog Train and exchanged travel stories with to pick up the supplies needed for several days of hosting them. At the top of Pikes Peak we learned very quickly not to their parties in the Sheraton Hotel. We made several trips to do any running or taking stairs two at a time. At 14,100 feet the the 16th Street shopping mall two blocks up from the hotels air is quite thin and we had to take a couple of breaks while we and CCC. The free tram that ran back and forth on the mall were there. Again, another trip through the gift shop and a was a blessing to many sore feet. Needless to say, we saw snack lunch before we boarded the train for the trip back down. many old friends that we only encounter at and While we were in the Colorado Springs area we wandered managed to make a few new ones as well. It was especially through an outlet mall that we spotted on our way from Denver. satisfying to see several of the people we worked with at Now we come to the real reason we traveled all this way LoneStarCon 2 in in 1997. During one after- while the average price of gasoline was $4.00 a gallon, the noon, we went to Bubba Gump’s restaurant for lunch a block World Science Fiction Convention in Denver. We arrived at the away from the CCC. One of the waitresses in the restaurant Hilton Garden Inn at about 2PM on Monday, checked in, and noticed the Koala Bear clipped to Richard’s collar and went unloaded the car. As was prevalent in the downtown Denver gaga over it. When Richard took the bear off and gave it to area, the hotel parking fees were outrageous. But at least we did her we thought she was going to have a fit. The other wait- have a valet service and in and out privileges. And we knew resses were very jealous of her and wanted one too. The next 7 day we gathered up several of the Koalas and took them over and gave them to the rest of the waitresses. They also were Letter of Comment quite pleased and our service was of the highest level you could imagine. EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC-EMOC We made the usual rounds of bid and convention parties in the Sheraton and spent some quiet time in the CFG suite in the Lloyd Penney 23 April 2008 Hilton. This was very convenient for us as we were on the same floor at the other end of the hall. We attended some pro- 1706-24 Eva Road gramming such as the Fannish Inquisition and made the usual Etobicoke ON rounds through the dealers room and art show. The highest Canada M9C 2B2 honor accorded us by the convention was being asked to pre- sent the Fan Artist . This allowed us to attend the Thank you for the April Shuttle. It’s been a long time since pre-Hugo nominee/presenter party just before the ceremony. I’ve run a club, so I can imagine having the problems in finding At the end of the last day of the convention, we attended the a good place to hold the meetings. Looks like lots of awards Worldcon Chair’s party as guests of Pat and Roger Sims. Again news, so let’s get to it. we had a chance to talk to friends who were previously busy Hmm, in 2013. There’s a number of good places running the convention. The CFG suite was open Sunday night where a Worldcon could be held, including Austin, Houston, even though most everything else was shut down. Monday we and Dallas. It will be interesting to see what city they choose. visited with some of the stay-overs and packed up for our de- We’ve presupported Reno, and will vote this time… we might parture. Tuesday morning we drove Pat, Roger, and Dick back go to Vegas before the Worldcon for a return visit, and then hop to the airport to catch their flight back to Orlando and departed a commuter flight to Reno. We’ll see what we can come up Denver. with, and what we can afford. We were now on the last two legs of our fannish odyssey. Thank you, Mike, for your good words re my winning the Our next destination was Austin, Texas, with a couple of lay- FAAn and being nominated for an Aurora. I hope I did well overs for some rest in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and Fort with the Hugos, too. Yvonne and I nominated candidates for Worth. In Tucumcari NM we hit 7777.7 miles traveled to date. TAFF (successful!) and DUFF, and CUFF, too. It’s been a busy We arrived at the Doubletree Hotel in Austin for ArmadilloCon year. without incident and checked in. We immediately ran into a I attended the press conference set up by the Constellation number of fans in the lobby area and found our way to the con- Awards committee where the nominees were announced, and course used by the convention. The highlight of the convention the actual ceremony was recorded and loaded onto YouTube. I was talking to several people we worked with on LoneStarCon got to ask a couple of questions of chairman Andrew Gurudata, 2 in 1997. The convention was well run and quite enjoyable. mostly because I was included in the press e-mailing, and I was We learned that the potential “Somewhere in Texas” Worldcon the only accredited pressman to actually show up for the con- bidders would be looking at 2013 and would make their an- ference. In the ceremony, you’ll see Liana K. and Ed the Sock, nouncement at SMOFcon in Columbus OH in December. The plus Andrew Gurudata and Derwin Mak. Reno and Seattle 2011 Worldcon-bid people were in evidence Steve and Sue’s trip report continues to entertain, and to offer and threw bid parties for all to enjoy. The Chicago in 2012 some ideas for things to do in Reno in a few years. I’ve been to folks were also there. LA a couple of times, but have never been in the Bay area… Before leaving Austin, we made arrangements to meet Cathy hope that can change sometime. Beckworth for lunch in Houston as we passed through. Much My loc… Ad Astra was a lot of fun, and we offered our fannish talk was the order of conversation at lunch as well as services to return to the committee, and we were accepted. I the usual family stuff. Cathy was Sue’s second-in-command in will be the assistant to the dealers’ room manager next year, the Events Division at LoneStarCon 2. We then left Texas, which brings me full circle…I ran the dealers’ room for that heading through Louisiana toward central Mississippi. Some- convention all through the 80s and early 90s. I will also be as- where on our drive through Louisiana the odometer read sisting with flyer distribution. 8888.8 miles. That evening we checked into the Brookhaven This past weekend was EerieCon 11 in Niagara Falls, New MS Hampton Inn for a couple of days to spend some time with York, literally a couple of hundred feet from the border. It’s a our daughter, Debbie. She and her family live in a little town small convention, perhaps 150 in attendance, but there were old called Bude located about half way between I-55 and Natchez friends to see, some interesting stuff in the dealers’ room… on US-84. We have attended regional conventions that had what else do you need? more people than live in Bude; it is a quite little town. It had All done for now… see you all next month. been some time since we had visited her, and this gave the kids a chance to come over to the hotel for a swim in the hotel pool. [Getting a place to have the NASFA meeting hasn’t been all They loved it. that difficult but you’re right that getting a good place The next morning early, we headed north up I-55 through sometimes has been. We were very fortunate to have Memphis and on to Nashville. As we passed through Nashville, BookMark for the many years we did and would still gladly we had run up 9514 miles and didn’t even slow down (except be meeting there had we not somewhat outgrown the meet- to obey the speed limit in town). Home never looked so good ing room at their current location. The bank Community after 71/2 weeks, 9687 miles, and four conventions, especially Room we used in April looks like a good location though at just under $4 a gallon for gas. We said that this was a good we’ve only had one meeting there so far so problems could trip with no mishaps, but that we would not likely be gone so still crop up. I attended both LoneStarCon 1 (the 1985 long in the future (maybe two or three weeks at most). Now we NASFiC in Austin) and LoneStarCon 2 (the 1997 Worldcon begin putting some money aside for Montreal in 2009, and in San Antonio) — of the two I think I preferred San Anto- Australia in 2010. And may all of your future travels be safe nio as a city. My experience in Houston is limited to making ones. connections at the airport. Dallas I know a little more about 8 but that knowledge is extremely out-of-date. Whatever city better air connections from my neck of the woods. Reno is they choose I’d certainly consider going, though Houston also a distinct possibility, especially as I’ll miss both Mont- and Dallas/Fort Worth would have the major advantage of real and Melbourne. -ED]

9 P. O. Box 4857 Huntsville AL 35815-4857

***************************************************************************************************************** The NASFA Shuttle is the newsletter of the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, Inc. This is the May 2009 edition (Volume 29, Number 5). NASFA Officers for 2009: President Mary Lampert; Vice President Mike Kennedy; Secretary Steve Sloan; Treasurer Sam Smith; Program Direc- tor Sue Thorn; Publicity Director Bill Savage. Shuttle Editor Mike Kennedy. Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by email to: [email protected] — EDITORIAL ADDRESS (EMAIL) Comments, inquiries, and contributions of writing by snailmail to: Mike Kennedy, 7907 Charlotte Drive SW, Huntsville AL 35802-2841 — EDITORIAL ADDRESS (SNAILMAIL) Dues ($), subscriptions ($), and Official Mail to: NASFA, Inc., P. O. Box 4857, Huntsville AL 35815-4857 — OFFICIAL ADDRESS Contents Copyright, © 2009. All rights revert to contributors. All opinions are those of the individual authors and do not reflect club policies other than by coincidence. LoCs subject to edited printing. NASFA Dues = $25/year (Family rates available) Subscription only = $15/year Single copy = $2 each. *****************************************************************************************************************